Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 4/28/26 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
The amendments filed 4/28/2026 have been entered. Claims 1, 13, 17, and 18 are amended and Claims 12 and 14 are cancelled.
Support for the amendments can be found previous Claims 12 and 14.
Claims 1, 3, 5, 7-11, 13, and 15-18 are pending.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 4/28/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
On page 8, Applicant argues that Marchio does not disclose or teach a gap provided between adjacent battery modules; and wherein none of the spacer plate is arranged in the gap. However, upon further consideration, Marchio teaches that the frames and cooling plates can be arranged such that cooling plate is between every other pair of frames (0094, Figs. 18 and 19). Each pair of frames with the cooling plate in between can be viewed as a battery module. Due to the shape of the frames and battery cells (Figs. 2 and 11 – the battery cells have chamfered edges and do not occupy the entire space of the frames) there would be at least some gap between opposing frames and therefore a gap between battery modules. The spacer plate is located in the middle of the battery modules (0094, Figs. 18 and 19) and would not be arranged in the gap.
On page 10, Applicant argues that Kenney does not disclose a gap provided between adjacent battery modules where none of the spacer plate is arranged in the gap. However, the cooling/spacer plate of Kenney has gaps due to the grooves in the bottom of the plate (Fig. 4). Thus, when multiple battery modules are used together in a stacked configuration (See modified Kenney below), there would have to be gaps between adjacent battery modules due to the shape of the cooling/spacer plate. As the gaps are due to the grooves in the cooling/spacer plate, none of the spacer plate would be arranged in the gap.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 1, 3, 5, 8, 10-11, 13, and 15-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Marchio (US 20120129024 A1) in view of Shen (US 20170271726 A1) and Kwon (US 20110052960 A1).
Regarding Claim 1, Marchio teaches a battery (Fig. 1: part 10 – battery pack system) comprising a plurality of battery cells arranged in a first direction (Figs. 11 – batteries 202 are arranged in a first direction within the frame) and a spacer plate extending in the first direction (Fig. 21 – liquid cooling plate 320 extends in the first direction and contacts each of the battery cells) and being connected (0093 – The liquid cooling plate may be mated, which would be a form of connection, to the faces of the battery cells) to a first wall of the battery cell that has a largest surface area (0061 – the cooling plates 106, which include the liquid cooling plates 320, are disposed on the cell sides with the greatest surface area of for efficient cooling). A chamber is disposed in an interior of the spacer plate (Claim 10, Fig. 21 – the cooling plates comprise a cooling channel/chamber which is represented by the dotted lines in Fig. 21).
Marchio does not disclose the dimensions of the spacer/cooling plate.
Shen teaches a battery cooling system (Abstract) comprising a cooling plate and cooling fluid channels defined in the cooling plate (0015). The cooling plate, including the space/height of the coolant fluid channels, may have a thickness ranging from about 0.5 mm to about 40 mm (0015). This range overlaps the claimed range of greater than 5 mm.
Marchio and Shen are considered analogous to the claimed invention as they relate to the same field of endeavor, namely temperature control for batteries.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the spacer/cooling plate of Marchio to have to have the thickness of the cooling plate of Shen (about 0.5 mm to about 40 mm) as Shen teaches it as a suitable overall thickness for a pair of plates with fluid channels between them. Doing so would provide nothing more than the predictable results of a spacer/cooling plate with a suitable thickness.
It would also have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have routinely selected the overlapping portions of the disclosed thickness ranges as selection of overlapping portions of ranges has been held to be a prima facie case of obviousness (see MPEP 2144.05).
Modified Marchio does not disclose the constructional details of the cooling plate.
Shen also teaches that that a cooling plate can be made of two sheets that together define the cooling fluid channels (0015).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the spacer/cooling plate of modified Marchio to be made in the manner taught by Shen as it is a known design for a spacer/cooling plate. Doing so would provide nothing more than the predictable results of a spacer/cooling plate with a suitable construction.
The two sheets can be viewed as a pair of sub-plates disposed opposite to each other in the second direction, and the chamber is disposed between the pair of sub-plates.
Modified Marchio does not teach that the spacer plate further comprises a reinforcing rib, the reinforcing rib is disposed on one of the pair of sub-plates, and the reinforcing rib is spacer apart from the other one of the pair of sub-plates.
Kwon teaches cooling conduits that serve as spacer plates through which a heat transfer medium flows between adjacent batteries (Abstract). The conduits/spacer plates can comprise a plurality of spacers formed in one inner wall (0069). The spacers can have a hemispherical shape and can be spaced apart from the other wall (Fig. 5B). The spacer can provide elastic stability to the walls of the cooling conduit (0067) and can be viewed as a reinforcement rib. The spacer also allows for the adjustment of the heat transfer between the cooling conduit/spacer plate and the batteries (0076).
Kwon is considered analogous to the claimed invention as it relates to the same field of endeavor, namely temperature control for batteries.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the spacer plate of modified Marchio to comprise the spacers of Kwon on one wall in order to provide elastic stability and allow for the adjustment of heat transfer between the spacer plate and the batteries.
The frames and cooling plates can be disposed such that a cooling plate is between every other pair of frames (0094, Figs. 18 and 19). Thus, each pair of frames with the cooling plate in between can be viewed as a battery module, where each battery module comprises at least one column of the plurality of battery cells arranged in the first direction and at least one spacer plate, and the at least one column of the battery cells and the at least one spacer plate are alternately disposed in the second direction (Figs. 18 and 19). The plurality of battery modules are arranged in the second direction (Figs. 18 and 19). Due to the shape of the frames and battery cells (Figs. 2 and 11 – the battery cells have chamfered edges and do not occupy the entire space of the frames) there would be at least some gap between battery modules. The spacer plate is located in the middle of the battery modules (0094, Figs. 18 and 19) and would not be arranged in the gap.
Regarding Claim 3, modified Marchio teaches the battery of Claim 1. The chamber is configured to accommodate a fluid to adjust a temperature of the battery cell (0095, 0096 – the chamber/channel of the spacer/cooling plate is configured to accommodate a cooling fluid).
Regarding Claim 5, modified Marchio teaches the battery of Claim 1. Modified Marchio does not disclose the thickness of a sub-plate in the second direction.
Shen teaches that the sheet/sub-plate that faces the battery cells have a thickness from about 0.2 mm to about 3.0 mm (0015). This range falls within the claimed range of 0.1~5 mm.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the sub-plate of modified Marchio that faces the battery cells to have a thickness of about 0.2 mm to about 3.0 mm as Shen teaches it as suitable thickness range for a sub-plate of a pair of sub-plates. Doing so would provide nothing more than the predictable results of a sub-plate with a suitable thickness.
Regarding Claim 8, modified Marchio teaches the battery of Claim 1. The size of the spacer plate in the second direction is not greater than 100 mm (Shen: 0015 - the overall thickness of the spacer plate ranges up to 40 mm).
Regarding Claim 10, modified Marchio teaches the battery of Claim 1. The battery cells comprise two first walls disposed opposite to each other in the second direction and two second walls disposed opposite to each other in the first direction, wherein in the first direction, the second walls of two adjacent battery cells are opposite to each other (Marchio: 0048, Figs. 2 and 3 – the cells are rectangular shaped and would therefore comprise two first walls in the second direction and two second walls in the first direction. As shown in Fig. 3, the second walls of two adjacent battery cells would be opposite to each other).
Regarding Claim 11, modified Marchio teaches the battery of Claim 1. The battery comprises multiple columns of the plurality of battery cells arranged in the first direction and a plurality of spacer plates, wherein the multiple columns of the battery cells (contained within the modular frames) and the plurality of spacer plates are alternately disposed in the second direction (Marchio: 0094, Fig. 18 – the battery comprises multiple modular frames, each comprising a column of battery cells, with cooling plates between the frames 110. Although Fig. 18 depicts the cooling plates between every other modular frame/column of battery cell, Marchio teaches in 0094 that the cooling plates can be between adjacent pairs of modular frames/columns of batter battery cell columns as well).
Regarding Claim 13, modified Marchio teaches the battery of Claim 1. The battery module can be viewed as each pair of modular frames and their corresponding cooling plate (0094, Fig. 18 – see Claim 12 above). The battery module can be viewed as comprising 2 columns of the battery cells (one in each modular frame) and 1 spacer plate, where the spacer plate is disposed between the two adjacent columns of the battery cells (Fig. 18) (N=1).
Regarding Claim 15, modified Marchio teaches the battery of Claim 1. The spacer plate is mated to the first walls of the battery cells (0093), which can be viewed as a form of bonding.
Regarding Claim 16, modified Marchio teaches the battery of Claim 1, and a power device comprising the battery of Claim 1, where the battery is configured to provide electric energy (Marchio: 0108).
Regarding Claim 17, modified Marchio teaches a battery of Claim 1, which comprises a plurality of battery cells arranged in a first direction (Marchio: Figs. 11 – batteries 202 are arranged in a first direction within the frame) and a spacer plate extending in the first direction (Marchio: Fig. 21 – liquid cooling plate 320 extends in the first direction and contacts each of the battery cells) and being connected (Marchio: 0093 – The liquid cooling plate may be mated, which would be a form of connection, to the faces of the battery cells) to a first wall of the battery cell that has a largest surface area (Marchio: 0061 – the cooling plates 106, which include the liquid cooling plates 320, are disposed on the cell sides with the greatest surface area of for efficient cooling). A chamber is disposed in an interior of the spacer plate (Marchio: Claim 10 – the cooling plates comprise a cooling channel/chamber). The spacer plate has a thickness in the second direction of greater than 5 mm (Shen: 0015) (See Claim 1 above), comprises a pair of sub-plates disposed opposite to each other in the second direction, where the chamber is disposed between the pair of sub-plates (Shen: 0015), and further comprises a reinforcing rib, the reinforcing rib is disposed on one of the pair of sub-plates and the reinforcing rib is spaced apart from the other one of the pair of sub-plates (Kwon: 0069; Fig. 5B).
Although modified Marchio does not explicitly describe the steps for producing such a battery, modified Marchio shows the arranged components (Marchio: Figs. 11, 18, and 21) and it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art that producing the battery would involve at least providing a plurality of battery cells arranged in a first direction and providing a spacer plate extending the in the first direction and being connected to a first wall of each battery cell of the plurality of battery cells, and the first wall being a wall of the battery cell that has a largest surface area; wherein a size of the spacer plate in a second direction, perpendicular to the first wall, is greater than 5 mm; and wherein a chamber is disposed in an interior of the spacer plate, wherein the spacer plate comprises a pair of sub-plates disposed opposite to each other in the second direction, where the chamber is disposed between the pair of sub-plates, and wherein the spacer plate further comprises a reinforcing rib, the reinforcing rib is disposed on one of the pair of sub-plates and the reinforcing rib is spaced apart from the other one of the pair of sub-plates, wherein the battery comprises a plurality of battery modules, a battery module comprises at least one column of the plurality of battery cells arranged in the first direction and at least one spacer plate, and the at least one column of the battery cells and the at least one spacer plate are alternately disposed in the second direction, wherein the plurality of battery modules are arranged in the second direction, and a gap is provided between adjacent battery modules, and wherein none of the spacer plate is arranged in the gap.
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Marchio, Shen, and Kwon as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Takami (US 20150086811 A1).
Regarding Claim 7, modified Marchio teaches the battery of Claim 1. Modified Marchio teaches that the size of the spacer plate in the second direction (T1) can range from greater than 5 mm to about 40 mm (Shen: 0015) but does not disclose the size of the battery cell in the second direction (T2).
Takami teaches that a rectangular battery can have a thickness of 13 mm (Takami: 0111, Fig. 1).
Takami is considered analogous to the claimed invention as it relates to the same field of endeavor, namely batteries.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the battery cell of modified Marchio to have a thickness of 13 mm as Takami teaches it as a suitable thickness for a rectangular battery. Doing so would provide nothing more than the predictable results of a rectangular battery with a suitable thickness.
This would result in T1 being between 5 and 40 mm and T2 being 13 mm. Therefore, T1/T2 would range from about 0.38 (5/13) to about 3.08 (40/13), which overlaps the claimed range of 0.04 to 2.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have routinely selected the overlapping portions of the disclosed thickness ranges as selection of overlapping portions of ranges has been held to be a prima facie case of obviousness (see MPEP 2144.05)
Claim(s) 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Marchio, Shen, and Kwon as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Capati (US 20190077276 A1).
Regarding Claim 9, modified Marchio teaches the battery of Claim 1. Modified Marchio teaches that the spacer/cooling plate may not be electrically grounded (Marchio: 0098) but does not teach that an outer surface of the spacer plate/heat exchanger is provided with an insulating layer, and a size of the insulating layer in the second direction (z direction) is 0.01 to 3 mm.
Capati teaches that a metallic cold plate for an energy storage apparatus can comprise an electrical insulation layer to separate the metallic layer of the cold plate from an electrically conductive component (such as a battery) (0024) The insulating layer can be a coating with a thickness of 50-80 microns (0.05-0.08 mm) (0024), which would fall within the claimed range of 0.01 to 3 mm.
Capati is considered analogous to the claimed invention as it relates to the same field of endeavor, namely temperature control for batteries.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the spacer/cooling plate of modified Marchio by including the electrically insulating coating of Capati in order to electrically insulate the spacer/cooling plate from the battery cells.
Claim(s) 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Marchio, Shen, and Kwon as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Song (US 20220131237 A1).
Regarding Claim 18, modified Marchio teaches the battery of Claim 1, which comprises a plurality of battery cells arranged in a first direction and a spacer plate, the spacer plate extending the in the first direction and being connected to a first wall of each battery cell of the plurality of battery cells, and the first wall being a wall of the battery cell that has the largest surface area; wherein a size T1 of the spacer plate in a second direction is greater than 5 mm, and the second direction is perpendicular to the first wall; wherein a chamber is disposed in an interior of the spacer plate; wherein the spacer plate comprises a pair of sub-plates disposed opposite to each other in the second direction, where the chamber is disposed between the pair of sub-plates; and wherein the spacer plate further comprises a reinforcing rib, the reinforcing rib is disposed on one of the pair of sub-plates and the reinforcing rib is spaced apart from the other one of the pair of sub-plates (See rejection of Claim 1 above).
Modified Marchio does not disclose what is used to produce the battery.
Song teaches that a machine (providing module) can be used for the assembly of a battery pack to save time (0034). Although the machine/providing module is used to mount electrical connection components rather than provide/arrange a plurality of battery cells or provide a spacer plate, one of ordinary skill in the art would understand that machines can be used for the mounting/arrangement of other battery components as well.
Song is considered analogous to the claimed invention as it relates to the same field of endeavor, namely batteries.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have used a machine to produce the battery of modified Marchio as Song teaches it to save time.
This would result in a device for producing a battery comprising a providing module (machine) configured to provide a plurality of battery cells arranged in a first direction and a spacer plate, the spacer plate extending the in the first direction and being connected to a first wall of each battery cell of the plurality of battery cells, and the first wall being a wall of the battery cell that has the largest surface area; wherein a size T1 of the spacer plate in a second direction is greater than 5 mm, and the second direction is perpendicular to the first wall; wherein a chamber is disposed in an interior of the spacer plate; wherein the spacer plate comprises a pair of sub-plates disposed opposite to each other in the second direction, where the chamber is disposed between the pair of sub-plates; and wherein the spacer plate further comprises a reinforcing rib, the reinforcing rib is disposed on one of the pair of sub-plates and the reinforcing rib is spaced apart from the other one of the pair of sub-plates, wherein the battery comprises a plurality of battery modules, a battery module comprises at least one column of the plurality of battery cells arranged in the first direction and at least one spacer plate, and the at least one column of the battery cells and the at least one spacer plate are alternately disposed in the second direction, wherein the plurality of battery modules are arranged in the second direction, and a gap is provided between adjacent battery modules, and wherein none of the spacer plate is arranged in the gap.
Claim(s) 1, 3, 5, 8, 10-11, 15, and 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kenney (US 20200240721 A1) in view of Shen (US 20170271726 A1), Jin (US 20200212518 A1), Kwon (US 20110052960 A1), and Siering (US 20190181518 A1).
Regarding Claims 1 and 11, Kenney teaches a battery comprising a plurality of battery cells (part 2) arranged in a first direction (y direction) (0049, Fig. 1). The battery comprises a spacer plate (part 12) that extends in the first direction and contacts a first wall of each battery cell, where the first wall is the wall of the battery cell with the largest surface area (Fig. 1 - the heat exchanger/spacer plate 10 contacts the largest surface area of the battery cells 2). A chamber is disposed in an interior of the spacer plate (Abstract- flow passages, which can be viewed as chambers, are formed between the plates of the heat exchanger). The spacer plate comprises a pair of sub-plates disposed opposite to each other in the second direction, and the chamber is disposed between the pair of sub-plates (Abstract - the first plate and the second plate can be viewed as a pair of sub-plates that together form the spacer plate. The chamber/flow passages are formed between the first and second plates).
Kenney does not disclose the size of the spacer plate/heat exchanger in a second direction that is perpendicular to the first wall (z direction, which is the thickness of the heat exchanger/spacer plate), that the battery cells are connected to the spacer plate, or that the spacer plate further comprises a reinforcing rib, the reinforcing rib is disposed on one of the pair of sub-plates, and the reinforcing rib is spacer apart from the other one of the pair of sub-plates.
Shen teaches a battery cooling system (Abstract) comprising a cooling plate and cooling fluid channels defined in the cooling plate (0015). The cooling plate can be made of two sheets that together define the cooling fluid channels (0015), which is the same structure as the heat exchanger of Kenney (Kenney: Fig. 3). The cooling plate, including the space/height of the coolant fluid channels, may have a thickness ranging from about 0.5 mm to about 40 mm (0015). This range overlaps the claimed range of greater than 5 mm.
Kenney and Shen are considered analogous to the claimed invention as they both relate to the same field of endeavor, namely temperature control for batteries.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the thickness of the heat exchanger/spacer plate of Kenney to have the thickness of the cooling plate of Shen (about 0.5 mm to about 40 mm) as Shen teaches it as a suitable overall thickness for a pair of plates with fluid channels between them. Doing so would provide nothing more than the predictable results of a heat exchanger/spacer plate with a suitable thickness.
It would also have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have routinely selected the overlapping portions of the disclosed thickness ranges as selection of overlapping portions of ranges has been held to be a prima facie case of obviousness (see MPEP 2144.05).
Modified Kenney does not teach that the battery cells are connected to the spacer plate.
Jin teaches that batteries can be bonded/connected to the surface of a cooling plate using a thermally conductive adhesive (0005). This allows for improved contact area between the cooling plate and battery and therefore improved thermal conduction (0067).
Jin is considered analogous to the claimed invention as it relates to the same field of endeavor, namely temperature control for batteries.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to have modified the battery of modified Kenney by bonding/connecting the battery cells to the spacer plate using a thermally conductive adhesive as taught by Jin in order to improve contact area and thermal conduction.
Modified Kenney does not teach that the spacer plate further comprises a reinforcing rib, the reinforcing rib is disposed on one of the pair of sub-plates, and the reinforcing rib is spacer apart from the other one of the pair of sub-plates.
Kwon teaches cooling conduits that serve as spacer plates through which a heat transfer medium flows between adjacent batteries (Abstract). The conduits/spacer plates can comprise a plurality of spacers formed in one inner wall (0069). The spacers can have a hemispherical shape and can be spaced apart from the other wall (Fig. 5B). The spacer can provide elastic stability to the walls of the cooling conduit (0067) and can be viewed as a reinforcement rib. The spacer also allows for the adjustment of the heat transfer between the cooling conduit/spacer plate and the batteries (0076).
Kwon is considered analogous to the claimed invention as it relates to the same field of endeavor, namely temperature control for batteries.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the spacer plate of modified Kenney to comprise the spacers of Kwon on one wall in order to provide elastic stability and allow for the adjustment of heat transfer between the spacer plate and the batteries.
Modified Kenney teaches that the battery comprises a plurality of battery modules, a battery module comprising at least one column of the plurality of battery cells arranged in the first direction and at least one spacer plate, and the at least one column of the battery cells and the at least one spacer plate are alternately disposed in the second direction multiple columns of the plurality of battery cells arranged in the first direction and a plurality of spacer plates (Kenney: Fig. 1 - the battery module 4 comprises the column of battery cells 2 supported on the surface of the spacer plate 10; 0049 - the battery can comprise multiple battery modules, each with a column of battery cells and a spacer plate/heat exchanger).
Modified Kenney does not disclose how the battery modules are oriented in the battery.
Siering teaches a battery comprising multiple battery modules, each having a plurality of battery cells (0014), and cooling elements assigned to each battery module (0015). The battery modules can be stacked vertically and the cooling elements are in contact with the associated battery module (0018, Fig. 2).
Siering is considered analogous to the claimed invention as it relates to the same field of endeavor, namely temperature control for batteries.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the battery of modified Kenney to arrange the battery modules vertically as taught by Siering as it is a suitable configuration for battery modules in a battery. Doing so would provide nothing more than the predictable results than a battery comprising battery modules in a suitable configuration.
This would result in the plurality of battery modules being arranged in the second direction with a gap between adjacent battery modules (Siering: 0018 – each cooling only contacts one battery module; Kenney: Fig. 4 – the shape of the cooling channels in each cooling plate would also provide a gap between adjacent battery modules. The cooling channel/spacer plate would not be arranged in this gap). As each battery module comprises a column of battery cells and a spacer plate, this would also be viewed as multiple columns of battery cells and spacer plates being alternately disposed in the second direction (Claim 11).
Regarding Claim 3, modified Kenney teaches the battery of Claim 1. The chamber is configured to accommodate a fluid to adjust a temperature of the battery cell (Kenney: Abstract, 0012 - the passages are adapted for flow of a heat transfer fluid).
Regarding Claim 5, modified Kenney teaches the battery of Claim 1. Modified Kenney does not disclose the size of the of the sub-plates in the second direction (thickness of the sub-plates).
Shen teaches a cooling system comprising two sheets, which can be viewed as sub-plates, that form coolant fluid channels (0015). The sheet/sub-plate that faces the battery cells have a thickness from about 0.2 mm to about 3.0 mm (0015). This range falls within the claimed range of 0.1~5 mm.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the sub-plate of modified Kenney that faces the battery cells to have a thickness of about 0.2 mm to about 3.0 mm as Shen teaches it as suitable thickness range for a sub-plate of a pair of sub-plates. Doing so would provide nothing more than the predictable results of a sub-plate with a suitable thickness.
Regarding Claim 8, modified Kenney teaches the battery of Claim 1. The size of the spacer plate in the second direction is not greater than 100 mm (Shen: 0015 - the overall thickness of the spacer plate ranges up to 40 mm).
Regarding Claim 10, modified Kenney teaches the battery of Claim 1. The battery cell comprises two first walls disposed opposite to each other in the second direction and two second walls disposed opposite to each other in the first direction and, in the first direction, the second walls of two adjacent battery cells are opposite to each other (Kenney: Fig. 1 - part 2).
Regarding Claim 15, modified Kenney teaches the battery of Claim 1. The spacer plate/heat exchanger is bonded to the first wall (Jin: 0005 - adhesive).
Regarding Claim 17, modified Kenney teaches a battery comprising a plurality of battery cells (part 2) arranged in a first direction (y direction) (Kenney: 0049, Fig. 1). The battery comprises a spacer plate (part 12) that extends in the first direction and is connected to a first wall of each battery cell, where the first wall is the wall of the battery cell with the largest surface area (Kenney: Fig. 1 - the heat exchanger/spacer plate 10 contacts the largest surface area of the battery cells 2; Jin: 0005, 0067). The spacer plate has a size greater than 5 mm in the second direction (Shen: 0015) and a chamber is disposed in an interior of the spacer plate (Abstract- flow passages, which can be viewed as chambers, are formed between the plates of the heat exchanger). The spacer plate comprises a pair of sub-plates disposed opposite to each other in the second direction, where the chamber is disposed between the pair of sub-plates (Kenney: Abstract), and further comprises a reinforcing rib, the reinforcing rib is disposed on one of the pair of sub-plates and the reinforcing rib is spaced apart from the other one of the pair of sub-plates (Kwon: 0069; Fig. 5B).
Although modified Kenney does not explicitly describe the steps for producing such a battery, modified Kenney shows the arranged components (Kenney: Fig. 1) and it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art that producing the battery would involve at least providing a plurality of battery cells arranged in a first direction and providing a spacer plate extending the in the first direction and being connected to a first wall of each battery cell of the plurality of battery cells, and the first wall being a wall of the battery cell that has a largest surface area; wherein a size of the spacer plate in a second direction, perpendicular to the first wall, is greater than 5 mm; wherein a chamber is disposed in an interior of the spacer plate; wherein the spacer plate comprises a pair of sub-plates disposed opposite to each other in the second direction, where the chamber is disposed between the pair of sub-plates; and wherein the spacer plate further comprises a reinforcing rib, the reinforcing rib is disposed on one of the pair of sub-plates and the reinforcing rib is spaced apart from the other one of the pair of sub-plates, wherein the battery comprises a plurality of battery modules, a battery module comprises at least one column of the plurality of battery cells arranged in the first direction and at least one spacer plate, and the at least one column of the battery cells and the at least one spacer plate are alternately disposed in the second direction, wherein the plurality of battery modules are arranged in the second direction, and a gap is provided between adjacent battery modules, and wherein none of the spacer plate is arranged in the gap.
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kenney, Shen, Jin, Kwon, and Siering as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Takami (US 20150086811 A1).
Regarding Claim 7, modified Kenney teaches the battery of Claim 1. Modified Kenney teaches that the size of the spacer plate in the second direction (T1) can range from greater than 5 mm to about 40 mm (Shen: 0015) but does not disclose the size of the battery cell in the second direction (T2).
Takami teaches that a rectangular battery can have a thickness of 13 mm (Takami: 0111, Fig. 1).
Takami is considered analogous to the claimed invention as it relates to the same field of endeavor, namely batteries.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the battery cell of modified Kenney to have a thickness of 13 mm as Takami teaches it as a suitable thickness for a rectangular battery. Doing so would provide nothing more than the predictable results of a rectangular battery with a suitable thickness.
This would result in T1 being between 5 and 40 mm and T2 being 13 mm. Therefore, T1/T2 would range from about 0.38 (5/13) to about 3.08 (40/13), which overlaps the claimed range of 0.04 to 2.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have routinely selected the overlapping portions of the disclosed thickness ranges as selection of overlapping portions of ranges has been held to be a prima facie case of obviousness (see MPEP 2144.05)
Claim(s) 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kenney, Shen, Jin, Kwon, and Siering as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Capati (US 20190077276 A1).
Regarding Claim 9, modified Kenney teaches the battery of Claim 1. Modified Kenney that the spacer plate/heat exchanger can be made of metal (Kenney: 0061 - aluminum) but does not teach that an outer surface of the spacer plate/heat exchanger is provided with an insulating layer, and a size of the insulating layer in the second direction (z direction) is 0.01 to 3 mm.
Capati teaches that a metallic cold plate for an energy storage apparatus can comprise an electrical insulation layer to separate the metallic layer of the cold plate from an electrically conductive component (such as a battery) (0024) The insulating layer can be a coating with a thickness of 50-80 microns (0.05-0.08 mm) (0024), which would fall within the claimed range of 0.01 to 3 mm.
Capati is considered analogous to the claimed invention as it relates to the same field of endeavor, namely temperature control for batteries.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the spacer plate/heat exchanger of modified Kenney by including the electrically insulating coating of Capati in order to separate the metallic spacer plate/heat exchanger from the batteries.
Claim(s) 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kenney, Shen, Jin, Kwon, and Siering as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Song (US 20220131237 A1).
Regarding Claim 18, modified Kenney teaches the battery of Claim 1, which comprises a plurality of battery cells arranged in a first direction and a spacer plate, the spacer plate extending the in the first direction and being connected to a first wall of each battery cell of the plurality of battery cells, and the first wall being a wall of the battery cell that has the largest surface area; wherein a size T1 of the spacer plate in a second direction is greater than 5 mm, and the second direction is perpendicular to the first wall; and wherein a chamber is disposed in an interior of the spacer plate; wherein the spacer plate comprises a pair of sub-plates disposed opposite to each other in the second direction, where the chamber is disposed between the pair of sub-plates; and wherein the spacer plate further comprises a reinforcing rib, the reinforcing rib is disposed on one of the pair of sub-plates and the reinforcing rib is spaced apart from the other one of the pair of sub-plates (See rejection of Claim 1 above).
Modified Kenney does not disclose what is used to produce the battery.
Song teaches that a machine (providing module) can be used for the assembly of a battery pack to save time (0034). Although the machine/providing module is used to mount electrical connection components rather than provide/arrange a plurality of battery cells or provide a spacer plate, one of ordinary skill in the art would understand that machines can be used for the mounting/arrangement of other battery components as well.
Song is considered analogous to the claimed invention as it relates to the same field of endeavor, namely batteries.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have used a machine to produce the battery of modified Kenney as Song teaches it to save time.
This would result in a device for producing a battery comprising a providing module (machine) configured to provide a plurality of battery cells arranged in a first direction and a spacer plate, the spacer plate extending the in the first direction and being connected to a first wall of each battery cell of the plurality of battery cells, and the first wall being a wall of the battery cell that has the largest surface area; wherein a size T1 of the spacer plate in a second direction is greater than 5 mm, and the second direction is perpendicular to the first wall; and wherein a chamber is disposed in an interior of the spacer plate; wherein the spacer plate comprises a pair of sub-plates disposed opposite to each other in the second direction, where the chamber is disposed between the pair of sub-plates; and wherein the spacer plate further comprises a reinforcing rib, the reinforcing rib is disposed on one of the pair of sub-plates and the reinforcing rib is spaced apart from the other one of the pair of sub-plates, wherein the battery comprises a plurality of battery modules, a battery module comprises at least one column of the plurality of battery cells arranged in the first direction and at least one spacer plate, and the at least one column of the battery cells and the at least one spacer plate are alternately disposed in the second direction, wherein the plurality of battery modules are arranged in the second direction, and a gap is provided between adjacent battery modules, and wherein none of the spacer plate is arranged in the gap.
Conclusion
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/ZIHENG LU/Examiner, Art Unit 1752
/Maria Laios/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1727
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